Responding when the heat is on

In July 2012, citizens in the High Plains of the U.S. were experiencing some of the most extreme temperatures and drought conditions since record-keeping began in the 1930s. Serving the electricity needs of more than 352,000 residents, the local power district saw demand peak dramatically in response to temperatures of 105° F.

The generating station required large quantities of clarified river water to generate electricity. At this critical time, problems with the station’s raw water clarifiers threatened to limit the amount of power the plant could produce – power needed by local residents. And that’s where we came in.

A solution developed to prevent a crisis led to long-term improvements for our customer.

290 Million gallons of water saved and $29,000 per year

We partnered with the plant’s engineering staff. Using our 3D TRASAR™ Optimizer, a sophisticated computer model that predicts mineral solubility and corrosivity, we determined that the plant could safely increase the cooling tower cycles of concentration and reduce the amount of water needed to run the plant without risking equipment failures. The solution has been permanent: the plant can meet the region’s needs during times of peak energy demand, and the power district has dramatically reduced its annual withdrawal of water from the river.

Reduced water withdrawal by 290 million gallons a year – equal to the daily water use of 725,000 average U.S. households